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| Previous Contact with Hog Salmon |
John H hooked what seemed like a very good fish in Poachers which refused to move before tearing down the rapids. Rod and guide followed in the boat with line fast disappearing off the reel. The fish then held behind a large boulder in the rapid allowing John to catch up, retrieve a lot of backing and get some flyline back on the reel. He fought the fish there for a time trying to bully it towards the bank but the fish refused to budge and kept firmly down. Having rested up, the fish again headed downstream, this time nearly emptying the spool of backing. Again John and his guide were forced to follow in the boat. Once the fish was out of the rapid, the problem was now to get backing onto the reel fast enough. The boat was fast floating down the rapid with the fish in the pool below so inevitably they lost touch. Fearing that the fish would be gone, John wound in as fast as he could and miraculously the fish was still on. In a pool where fish can easily be landed, they were now in a good position to land whatever they had on. Thinking the fish would now be exhausted, John kept up the pressure only for the fly to come out for no particular reason.
The entire episode lasted 20 minutes and at no moment did the fish seem to tire and they never once got a look at it. John has had over a dozen fish in excess of 30lbs from Yokanga and said he had never experienced strength like that. The fish was in control all through the fight. One wonders what sort of size it could have been.
